where to begin...
So, I've been MIA for the past month or so if anyone noticed. As it happened I got sick with the flu which somehow morphed into something strange and scared the shit out of me. I started having weird sensations like buzzing or electricity all over my body. I felt pains in my arms and legs along with the pins and needles sensation at the extremities. At times I felt like I would pass out but I realize it was "just" really severe fatigue now.
As if that was just the beginning, I really got freaked out on day when I got out of bed and rather suddenly found out I had a date with the floor. My legs felt weak as hell. They felt so weak I couldn't imagine they would ever support me again.
This put me into a frenzy to find out what the hell was going on. I completely withdrew from any semblance of a life I had (school, work) and dedicated all of my fleeting energies to getting to know a variety of neurological and auto-immune diseases that had my symptoms. I first thought I was hit by Multiple Sclerosis. As my condition seemed to be getting worse and I conveniently found Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease, aka Motor Neuron Disease that still afflicts Stephen Hawking to this day I fell into a deep depression the likes of which I had never imagined. The average survival after an ALS diagnosis is 2-5 years. The disease takes away all voluntary motor functions but leaves the mind intact only to become imprisoned and isolated by the non-functional body. There is no treatment or cure.
I'm still not 100% sure I don't have it, but thanks to 3 neurologists, an MRI of my head, CT-scan, and blood work for everything from STDs to Lyme disease and muscular dystrophy, it seems highly unlikely I have ANYTHING wrong with me physically. I still have an electromyogram coming up in one week which should hopefully rule out any neurological disorder definitively.
Only thing I have been able to come up with is aspartame poisoning. I happened to be drinking lots of Diet Dr. Pepper just around the time I got sick with the flu. Like any diet drink it contains aspartame which has been known to either cause or aggravate disorders such as migraine headaches, benign fasciculation syndrome (muscle twitching) and fibromyalgia (aka Gulf War Syndrome) as well as causing Multiple Sclerosis like symptoms.
I've been exercising and getting my strength back, but I took a pretty big hit psychologically over this whole ordeal. I'm taking it easy now as I moved back home for the summer. Hoping for the best.
As if that was just the beginning, I really got freaked out on day when I got out of bed and rather suddenly found out I had a date with the floor. My legs felt weak as hell. They felt so weak I couldn't imagine they would ever support me again.
This put me into a frenzy to find out what the hell was going on. I completely withdrew from any semblance of a life I had (school, work) and dedicated all of my fleeting energies to getting to know a variety of neurological and auto-immune diseases that had my symptoms. I first thought I was hit by Multiple Sclerosis. As my condition seemed to be getting worse and I conveniently found Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease, aka Motor Neuron Disease that still afflicts Stephen Hawking to this day I fell into a deep depression the likes of which I had never imagined. The average survival after an ALS diagnosis is 2-5 years. The disease takes away all voluntary motor functions but leaves the mind intact only to become imprisoned and isolated by the non-functional body. There is no treatment or cure.
I'm still not 100% sure I don't have it, but thanks to 3 neurologists, an MRI of my head, CT-scan, and blood work for everything from STDs to Lyme disease and muscular dystrophy, it seems highly unlikely I have ANYTHING wrong with me physically. I still have an electromyogram coming up in one week which should hopefully rule out any neurological disorder definitively.
Only thing I have been able to come up with is aspartame poisoning. I happened to be drinking lots of Diet Dr. Pepper just around the time I got sick with the flu. Like any diet drink it contains aspartame which has been known to either cause or aggravate disorders such as migraine headaches, benign fasciculation syndrome (muscle twitching) and fibromyalgia (aka Gulf War Syndrome) as well as causing Multiple Sclerosis like symptoms.
I've been exercising and getting my strength back, but I took a pretty big hit psychologically over this whole ordeal. I'm taking it easy now as I moved back home for the summer. Hoping for the best.